NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Cornell volleyball team fell to Columbia, 3-0, this afternoon in its Ivy League opener. The game was the Big Red's first match of the day, as both teams are facing Hartford this evening in a tri-match.
Columbia (8-4, 1-0 Ivy) was led by Megan Gaughn's 20 kills and 12 digs. In all, the Lions had four players post double-digit digs with Ellie Thomas registering 16 and both Sarah Thompson and Martina Kajanova adding 10 apiece.
The first set of the match started out very evenly, with neither team taking more than a one-point lead, before an 8-2 scoring run by Columbia gave the home team a 17-11 lead. The Big Red pulled back within two points, thanks to a 5-1 run that made it a 19-17 game. During the run, Cornell got kills from
Madeleine Przybyl,
Alice Cope and Zheng, to go along with a block by Cope and Zheng. The Big Red couldn't get all the way back, however, as the Lions outscored Cornell, 6-3 down the stretch to take the 25-20 victory.
The second set was another closely fought contest, featuring 11 ties in the early going. Cornell used a solid stretch of offense that included three kills by
Alessa Cekauskas and a kill by
Erin McCarthy to take a 17-13 lead. Four unanswered points by the Lions knotted the game again at 17-17. The teams would fight to five more ties down the stretch before Columbia scored the final two points of the set to win, 28-26.
The final set was another exciting one, as Columbia fought its way to an early 8-7 lead before three straight points gave the home team some breathing room at 11-7. Columbia eventually stretched its lead to six points, 18-12, before the Big Red began to slowly chip its way back into the contest. Cornell used four kills by Pula and a service ace by Zheng to put together a 6-1 scoring run and make it a one-point game, 19-18. The two teams battled back and forth before an attack error by Gaughn tied the game, 22-22. The teams tied again three more times before a pair of kills by Columbia gave the Lions the 27-25 victory.
